Samantha & Roland's Wedding...

At long last the big day arrived, Friday 28th January was the big day for No.2 daughter and her fiance Roland. All the months of planning and preparation had come together nicely, there were a few "challenges" along the way, but nothing that we couldn't handle.

The weather forecast was not looking good, with Cyclone Wilma due to arrive in the late afternoon. On arrival at the venue the rain had started to fall and we had to make a very quick decision before the bridal party arrived to make the outdoor garden ceremony into an inside ceremony. Our family and friends quickly got into action and turned the cafe into a romantic setting using bright coloured parasols, water lily petals and plants from the garden centre attached to the venue. Within minutes everything was looking awesome, I can't explain enough to you all how wonderful our family was to make this all look romantic.

But, at the end of the day it was all of us, gathered together to be part of Samantha and Roland's big day that made it special.  It didn't matter what the weather was doing the Bride and Groom were just glowing, the atmosphere was one of pure love and joy of them being together.

 Signing the register with Nicky the Marriage Celebrant.

Jared, the best man, with Emma the flower girl.

 Sam and Roland with Phil and I, very proud parents of the Bride.

 It's been a long time since these three have had their photo taken together, Stephen, Samantha and Evette. My three kids.

The wedding cake was made up of a top cake of the most divine Chocolate Mud Cake, and then there were individual cupcakes in little ribboned boxes for the guests to take home with them.

Wordless Wednesday..

My first time at participating in the Wordless Wednesday meme, thanks Sarah for hosting..

WordlessWednesday

Emma and the Fairy House..

 Like any little girl Emma just loves fairies, and has books and DVD's of Tinkerbell and her fairy friends.

One afternoon Emma asked if we could make a fairy house together, so that she could put it in the herb garden for the fairies to use at night.  We found an old cardboard box and decorated it with Christmas wrapping paper, the roof was an old "Chinese" style hat that was just laying about the house that we decorated with glitter stars.

We placed it in the herb garden and she made a little "welcome"sign for the fairies, and  a path to the house from some little pebbles that she found. We were set to go, all we had to do was wait until the next day to see if the fairies had spent the night. Just before bedtime we asked Emma how she would know that the fairies had visited. With an "all knowing" look she informed us that the fairies always left dust and that we would know how many had visited by the amount of fairy dust that was left.

Evette and I looked at each other, and both of us thought at the same time, " icing sugar" makes great fairy dust. Our intention being to sprinkle the sugar in the fairy house so that Emma could wake up in the morning and would find the "Fairy Dust". 

 The next morning, very early, Emma woke and ran out to the fairy house. She was so excited to discover that the fairies had spent the night, and had left the fairy dust as evidence. The look on her face was priceless.

I looked at Evette, and gave her a "thumbs up" , she looked at me and mouthed " Not me mum, I forgot, was it you?"
"No," I replied," I forgot too, perhaps it was Nan ( my MIL), lets go and check with her". A quick trip to Nans, she lives next door,  only to discover it wasn't her, as she had forgotten too.

So there we were, the three of us adults looking at this little girl, who so believed that the Fairies had been to visit, and had left the "Fairy Dust" as evidence. There was the fairy dust on her finger, the evidence was there.

And in all honesty, who are we to question a five year old. As far as we are concerned the fairies visit Emma's Fairy House every night and leave the fairy dust as evidence .

 The Flower Fairy is a very beautiful and powerful fairy, and is also very wise and caring. The Flower Fairy is so rare it is said to be a figment of the imagination.

Shadow Shot Sunday..

Thanks to Tracy over at Hey Harriet for hosting us, you can visit her over at Shadow Shot Sunday: http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/

Yesterday we went into Auckland city to take Emma to the pantomime Cinderella. While we were making our way to the theatre, I found some shadows to share...

 

Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Sunset Coast Beach..

Last weekend we went to Kariotahi Beach, my favourite surf beach, only ten minutes from home. This part of Auckland is known as the Sunset Coast, and on a good day the sunsets are magnificent. We have discovered that Emma and Lucca love playing in the tidal pools, and as low tide was at the same time as the sunset, this made for some beautiful shots....  We are enjoying the most beautiful weather at present,  long may it continue.

Queensland Floods...

My thoughts and prayers are with all those people who have been effected by the floods in Queensland, Australia.

I hope that my blogging friends are safe. Power outages due today in Brisbane CBD, so that means all those who live in apartments will have no TV, no fridge/freezer, no cooking.


My family are safe, but with roads being closed it will be difficult for them to get to supermarket, and work.

My niece has told us that there is already a shortage of bread, milk and of course toilet paper at her local store.  My sister in law and her family are waiting to hear if they are to be evacuated,  their trip to the supermarket a few days ago got them chocolate, chips, and long life milk. All other essentials were gone off the shelves.

What a truly awful way to the start of 2011.   Hang in there guys.

Shadow Shot Sunday..

Happy New Year everyone, I have been absent from SSSunday for a few weeks as my daughter and grandchildren are visiting here from Utah.  We have been having the most amazing fun, with trips to the beach and fun in the sun. The sand at our local surf beach is iron sand, which is why it is black.

My shadow shot this week was taken at sunset at the beach yesterday afternoon. Lucca arrived at the beach in dry clothes and in a matter of minutes was having a great time in the tide pools.

Thanks to Tracy over at Hey Harriet for hosting us, you can visit her over at Shadow Shot Sunday: http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/

A Day at the Beach..

On New Years Day ( Yes I know that was quite a few days ago) we spent a glorious day at Manly Beach with the family.

Emma and Lucca have not been to the beach since their last visit two years ago, and it was great to see how different they were now that they are older.

Emma was the first in the water, and had a ball.  Lucca was a bit more reserved and enjoyed himself in the sand, building sandcastles and checking out the beach.

                                                   Making sandcastles with Uncle Roland
               

 

 

Check out the smile on Emma's face, she loves the sea, and the rubber boat was a huge success. Being towed around by Aunty Sam was a blast for her..

 

                                     Nana and her "Poppet" Emma enjoying the warm water.



The days are flying by, and are filled with fun and games.  It is just as well that I am a morning person as the "grandies" are awake at 6am full of energy and rearing to go. It is so much fun having conversations with them, especially Lucca who loves to talk to you about any and everything..